THE United Nations war crimes court has convicted three former Bosnian Serb commanders in a landmark prosecution of rape and sexual enslavement as crimes against humanity. The three received sentences ranging from 12 to 28 years for raping, enslaving and torturing Muslim women and girls in 1992. Prosecutors said the three took women and girls as young as 12 to a variety of ”rape houses” for a string of brutal beatings and assaults. Many women were so forcibly abused they suffered permanent gynaecological harm. One woman was raped for three hours by 15 men, while two teenage girls were held for months as personal sex slaves before being sold. – Reuters